By Shane Croucher
Copyright newsweek
China said there are no winners in trade wars as it reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new and rising import tariffs on softwood lumber, upholstered furniture, and kitchen cabinets and vanities.
Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a regular press briefing on Tuesday that “there are no winners in tariff or trade wars, and protectionism leads nowhere,” according to a paraphrasing of his remarks by state-run Global Times.
Tariffs Pose Inflation Problem
The tariffs are being introduced despite fruitful talks between trade delegations from the U.S. and China as Trump continues to aggressively pursue his economic policy of trying to rebuild American manufacturing by throttling foreign competitors. Trump saw the trade arrangements before he came to office in January as unfair to the U.S. and sought to quickly reshape them.
Tariffs are taxes paid by importers. While they can aid some domestic businesses by reducing competition from foreign firms, they can also raise costs and hinder the supply of goods, increasing prices for consumers.
Inflation is elevated in the U.S., and tariffs are partly to blame. The Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates in September and markets believe may do so again before Christmas, is concerned that tariffs will continue to feed through to higher prices over the coming months.
A painfully high cost of living helped to deliver Trump the White House again, but, if prices stay high and the weak jobs market does not improve, it threatens to cause him a serious political problem in the 2026 midterm elections.
Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on at the beginning of a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) at The Great Hall of the People on September 2, 2025 in Beijing, China.
Trump’s Latest Tariffs
On Monday, Trump had referenced China in a post on Truth Social about new furniture tariffs.
“In order to make North Carolina, which has completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries, GREAT again, I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States,” Trump said.
The White House later said Trump had signed a proclamation that imposes a 10 percent global tariff on imports of softwood lumber. He also imposed a 25 percent global tariff on certain upholstered furniture, rising to 30 percent on January 1, 2026. And Trump imposed a 25 percent global tariff on kitchen cabinets and vanities, which will increase to 50 percent on January 1.
However, the U.K., European Union (EU), and Japan, which have reached trade deals with the Trump administration, will receive lower preferential rates.
Updated, 9/30/25, 4:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated with more information.
